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It's a long way from No. 1 but the ninth overall pick has served many an NBA team well in the annual draft.

General manager Bryan Colangelo and his Raptors front office will attempt to be one of those teams that turns nine into gold tonight.

Now gold might be overdoing it quite a bit, given this draft is considered a one-superstar show -- Blake Griffin.

But Colangelo has some experience at No. 9, drafting Shawn Marion in 1999 and then getting Amare Stoudemire at the same spot three years later.

Those two are near the head of the class when it comes to the ninth selection of the past 29 years in the draft. Joining them is Tracy McGrady, picked by the Raptors in 1997. A year later, Milwaukee grabbed Dirk Nowitzki, the highest scoring draftee from that spot.

Philadelphia got lucky picking ninth in 2004 when the Raptors, under the not-so-watchful eye of Rob Babcock, opted for Rafael Araujo at eight allowing the Sixers to snap up Andre Iguodala.

More recently, this draft pick has produced the likes of D.J. Augustin, who had a solid rookie year with Charlotte last season. Nine was where the Bulls grabbed Joakim Noah, who started to come into his own in that memorable first-round series against Boston this year.

Of course not all the ninth picks have been good, or even average. The Knicks picking ninth in a top-heavy 2003 draft somehow overlooked David West, Josh Howard, and Boris Diaw among others to select 6-foot-8, 275-pound Mike Sweetney, the Georgetown big man who would battle weight problems throughout his four-year NBA career.

But at least Sweetney got four years in. The New Jersey Nets passed on Michael Finley and Theo Ratliff in order to get two spotty seasons out of Ed O'Bannon, the same O'Bannon Raptors fans were pining for when Isiah Thomas selected Damon Stoudamire, two picks earlier in the draft held at the SkyDome in Toronto.

O'Bannon's NBA career spanned three seasons in which he averaged just five points before heading overseas. Today O'Bannon is selling Toyotas in Las Vegas.

Colangelo isn't expecting to find a superstar at nine, but he fully expects to get a quality player there. Based on his calculations, the pick will come from one of five players -- Jrue Holiday, Jonny Flynn, James Johnson, Gerald Henderson and DeMar DeRozan.

If there was a note of caution from Colangelo it came when he suggested this year's draft crop is probably much like the 2006 draft class when the Raptors had the first overall pick and selected Andrea Bargnani.

The No. 9 selection that year was none other than Patrick O'Bryant, who spent the end of last season on the end of the Raptors bench still looking to break in. His 2.1 points per game average is the worst of all the No. 9 picks in the dating back to 1990.